


AMuse

by Yamino_Yama



Category: TsukiPro the Animation
Genre: Amusement Parks, Family Feels, Ferris Wheels, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22722715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yamino_Yama/pseuds/Yamino_Yama
Summary: Unable to resist the pleas of the SQ kids, Shiki agrees to take a break from work to enjoy time with the two groups' members at an amusement park.
Relationships: Horimiya Eichi/Izumi Shuu, Sera Rikka/Takamura Shiki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	AMuse

**Author's Note:**

> Roughly inspired by QUELL's amusement park visit in the Tsukipara White Day event story last year, this was going to be a Valentine's themed thing, but wound up just being a fun get-together for the SQ family on an ordinary day. Still, I'm releasing it today as a gift to you all. <3 Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S. The title (which I pondered way too long) is a pun on 'amuse' and 'a muse.'

Tsubasa shoved a pamphlet into Shiki's face, much too close for him to make out a word.

“We have to go to this place, Shiki!” he shouted. “It's got the best rides! The best food!”

“We have to!” Ichiru mimed him. “Please,” he added.

Once Tsubasa moved the paper back, Shiki saw a detailed guide for a nearby amusement park, painfully colorful to try to sell how amusing it was. He almost sighed and gave a solid 'no' but then he caught sight of Issei and Dai standing just behind the two boisterous ones, their eyes shimmering with a not-entirely-subdued excitement of their own. He glanced and saw that Eichi and Rikka had paused their food preparation to grin at him from the kitchen. Shiki sensed his means of escaping this outing slipping away.

A hand firmly gripped his shoulder. He knew who it was, but turned anyway and assaulted with another smile. “How about it, Shiki?” Shu asked. “For the kids?”

_For the kids_ . . . How could he refuse?

“All right,” he conceded, “but with a number of deadlines coming up, I don't think we can make an all-day thing of it.”

Shu nodded. “That's fine. I'll have some business to attend to as well, but a few hours shouldn't be too much of a hinderance. We could all use a break. Would that be all right with you, Ichiru? Issei?”

Issei nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, Shu, Shiki.”

“Yeah!” Ichiru cheered.

Tsubasa leaped on Dai and pumped a fist in the air, eliciting a soft chuckle from Dai.

“A good decision, Leader.”

Shiki looked up at Rikka as he set a mug and plate before him.

“I take it you're looking forward to this too, Rikka.”

“A day at an amusement park with everyone, including an ever-elusive Shiki? Of course.”

He placed his hand on Shiki's before walking away and Shiki watched him go. Perhaps an outing wasn't a bad idea after all.

***

“Wow! We should ride that next! Or that one!”

Ichiru pointed to every fast and noisy attraction in sight, things spinning and flipping and blazing with flashing lights, but Shiki kept a smile on his face, knowing it was better to appear indifferent than show fear.

“How about a few of us take those rides on while the rest wait around here.” Rikka suggested. “I'm already confident that Tsubasa will want to give them a try. How's that sound, Ichiru?” 

“I-I think I might try too,” Issei spoke up.

“Don't push yourself to do anything you aren't comfortable with,” Shiki warned him.

Issei nodded, clearly appreciative of the advice but also resolute in his decision. “I think I'd be all right. I'd like to try.”

“I'll give it a try too,” Eichi chimed in. He gave Shu a look, and Shu answered with his own, to which Eichi nodded and said, “We'll be back,” before waving and heading off with the other three daredevils.

“You two can manage silent conversations,” Shiki noted. “Clever.”

Dai, who'd been lingering around the cotton candy stall, turned and said, “You and Rikka do that too. All the time.”

Shiki said nothing, noticing and trying to ignore how Rikka and Shu smiled all-knowingly at him. Rikka showed him mercy and drove the talk away from him. “Are you not good at fast rides, Shu?”

Shu nodded, taking a drink from his water bottle, before explaining, “I prefer the slow and scenic. Eichi's promised me a ferris wheel ride later. How about you, Rikka?”

“I enjoy fast rides a lot, but I don't mind slow ones either. Even just walking around like this is enjoyable.”

Shiki wiped his brow. “If it weren't for the heat,” he said, “I'd agree with you.”

“Want shaved ice?” Dai asked.

“No, thank you, Dai, but weren't you just eating cotton candy?”

Dai blinked, shoveling some ice into his mouth and mumbling around his spoon, “Finished it.”

“And the shaved ice stall was just a little further down,” Rikka started, “so you decided to chase down the fluffy dessert with a cold one?”

Dai shifted his eyes before nodding, no doubt self-conscious from the attention to his eating habits.

“I enjoy sweets too,” Shu offered, “and the twins both share my sweet tooth as well, so Eichi has gotten into making desserts. Last time he made one with your help, right, Rikka?”

“That's right,” Rikka eyed Shiki as he added, “and I made a more bitter coffee-flavored variety for our leader.”

“I could use coffee now,” Shiki admitted, smelling traces of a bold brew nearby.

“Even though you were saying it was hot,” Dai muttered.

“Let's all eat or drink what we want,” Shu suggested, “I wouldn't mind sampling the cheesecake here, and we can buy something for the others when they get back, if they'd like.”

“Sounds good.” Rikka was already scouting and from the twinkle in his eyes, Shiki figured he'd pinpointed the café. “Let's go.”

***

The sun's power had greatly reduced by the time Eichi called Shu and was directed to the café they were waiting at. Orange light touched everything around them, only cut by the long shadows of the patio chairs they sat in and passersby.

Eichi clapped his hands together in apology. “Sorry we took off for so long. There were a couple long waits in line, and the boys got carried away wanting to ride one thing after another despite of it.”

“You say that, but you lined up at every ride Ichiru and Tsubasa suggested, Eichi,” Issei pointed out.

“And it was you that wanted to get on the one with the longest wait,” Ichiru chimed in, “saying you wanted a 'savor-the-moment' rollercoaster picture.”

Eichi laughed ackwardly, putting a hand behind his head and bowing. “You got me. I guess it was hard for all of us to break away from the fun.”

Shu chuckled, clearly unbothered. “We had fun in our own way too, so no harm done.”

“It is later than I intended to stay out,” Shiki pointed out, glancing at his watch.

“Sorry,” Eichi said again.

“Ah, no, I didn't mean to make you feel guilty, Eichi. I was just thinking, we may as well stay here a bit longer.”

“Seriously?” Tsubasa asked while Rikka tried and failed to hide a grin behind his coffee cup.

Rejuvenated after sitting and sipping on a coffee, Shiki had to admit that he didn't mind their outing carrying on for a little longer than intended.

“I think,” Shiki started, looking at all the faces around me, “this is helping to inspire me.”

Tsubasa beamed. “Awesome! Are you going to make amusement park-themed songs like SOARA?”

“I don't think my inspiration goes that far,” Shiki admitted and there were a few laughs because of it.

“Well, where should we go now?” Dai wondered aloud.

Shu got a sly look in his eyes as he asked, “How about that Ferris Wheel ride, Eichi?”

Eichi jittered, cheeks growing pink. “A-ah, sure.”

Rikka gave Shiki's arm a tug and he turned to see a spark now lit Rikka's eyes. “Why don't we have a ride too, Shiki?”

Another plea Shiki could do little to resist. How was everyone so good at getting favors out of him? Still, out of his weaknesses, it was one he didn't feel ashamed of, one he wouldn't mind having for life.

“Okay,” he said, “We'll ride too.”

By the time they'd walked their way to the Ferris wheel, sunset had been pushed away to make room for the night sky; only a few traces of purple and amber light remained in the otherwise navy, star-studded expanse. Somehow there were few people now; all of the people Shiki had watched mill by while lounging at the café's storefront, all those who'd help build the pesky long lines Eichi mentioned earlier in the day, they'd somehow dispersed and left the place feeling intimate, a place all their own.

“You all stay close, but have fun,” Shu instructed the kids.

“There's some game stalls over there,” Eichi pointed out. “How about you all try your luck at winning some prizes?”

“Okay,” Issei said. “We'll win you and Shu something, Eichi. Right, Ichiru?”

“You bet,” he said. “Just you guys wait. We'll take home every prize.”

“I don't think we need that many,” Eichi said, sounding worried.

Shu just smiled and simply said, “We'll look forward it.”

Shiki took a moment to watch the kids leave.

“I'll win you a plushie, Dai-chan!”

Dai's ears reddened a bit at Tsubasa's proclamation, but he soon turned his attention to the twins. “I don't think I'll win anything,” Dai admitted to Issei, “but I can buy you a balloon.”

“I'd like that,” Issei answered him.

The last words Shiki caught loud and clear were Tsubasa saying, “While they're having adult time, we can also find the go-carts and give them a go-go!”

He could just make out Dai's sigh and quiet retort. “Fine, but don't make things sound so misleading.”

Smiling, Shiki followed as Rikka pulled him along behind Shu and Eichi. The QUELL pair went into their own car while Shiki and Rikka took the adjacent one. Rather than sitting across from him, Shiki took a neat next to Rikka, all too aware of their thighs brushing.

All was silent except for the distant music from the nearby Merry-Go-Round. Outside the windows, the park seemed like it'd been replaced by a small replica version of itself with small people bustling around it. Rikka observed the scenery and Shiki observed Rikka. Eventually Rikka turned and met Shiki's eyes.

“It's beautiful, huh?” Rikka asked.

Shiki nodded without looking away from him, noting how his hair made a gentle curl behind his ear, how the wheel's blinking lights made the twinkling in his eyes more apparent while masking the heightened blush of his cheeks behind a glow. Almost, anyway.

“Thank you, Rikka,” he said.

Rikka looked surprised and then . . . amused?

“What are you thanking me for?”

Shiki pondered that question and responded with his own. “What do I  _not_ have to thank you for? Everyday you're doing something for me, for all of SolidS. I'm just really grateful to have you by my side.”

For an instant, Shiki thought he saw sadness on Rikka's face, emotions welling up but not being allowed to overflow before they were pushed down again and Rikka was making a wily expression.

“That makes the two of us. I'm grateful too, for you inviting me into SolidS. I'll never be able to say it enough. Whether we're at a park like this, on stage, or just at the dorms, every day, every moment, is fun, and I hope it never ends.”

Rikka rested his head on Shiki's shoulder and Shiki leaned against him in turn, relinquishing himself to the intoxicating rosy aroma enveloping Rikka, closing his eyes and losing himself in it. Or was it sleep he was losing to?

He thought he heard Rikka giggle as their hands found each other, fingers intertwining while they finished their moment among the stars.

END


End file.
